Reviews (1)

great for young kids
Little Big Foot was a cute little movie for younger children. The main reason I bought it was that I live in Big Bear where it was filmed and the sherriff's office was really my dad's real estate office, downtown in the village area. Had to have it. ... Read more

Reviews (50)

Great Performances. Incisive Portrait of Compulsion.
Autofocus is the story of actor Bob Crane's rise to popularity as Colonel Hogan on Hogan's Heroes through his fall from grace in Hollywood and eventual murder, based on the Book 'The Murder of Bob Crane' by Robert Graysmith. Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear) is a supremely likable guy with a family and a popular prime time sitcom, but also with a penchant for pornography and casual sex when he meets a man named John Carpenter (Willem Dafoe) on the set of Hogan's Heroes. Carpenter was a sales representative for Sony's cutting edge technologies when they were developing VTR technology, a precursor to videotape. Crane, a lifelong photography enthusiast, was quite taken with this new technology. Also being a huge fan of pornography, he took the opportunity that VTR provided to make an astounding number of pornographic 'home movies' of anyone who would let him. Bob Crane's philandering and sexual obsession, often encouraged and facilitated by John Carpenter, became pathological and seemingly out of his own control, eventually costing him his first marriage and damaged his ability to get roles in Hollywood. Bob Crane was murdered in 1978 . The movie asserts the most popular hypothesis as to who committed the crime. But the circumstances surrounding his murder actually remain unclear.

Greg Kinnear gives the performance of his life as the affable, compulsive Bob Crane. I only know Bob Crane from television, but, based on what I've seen, Kinnear nailed Crane's mannerisms perfectly. Willem Dafoe is superb as bright, needy, and sleazy John Carpenter. Rita Wilson is admirable in her supporting role as Bob Crane's first wife Anne. Maria Bello plays his second wife, actress Patricia Olson. I don't like director Paul Schrader's decision to overdub a narration that is supposed to be Bob Crane speaking (even speaking from the grave at one point!). It is unnecessary, corny, and takes Bob Crane's words too far out of their context, I think. That is a minor point, since the overdubbing is only occasional.

Bob Crane's elder son by his first marriage, Robert David Crane, cooperated with the making of this film. His younger son by his second marriage, Robert Scott Crane -young "Scotty" in the movie- did not and has voiced strong objections to how his father is portrayed in the film. He cites a long list of what he claims are the film's inaccuracies. (You can read his objections if you search for Autofocus on the Internet Movie Database.) I am not inclined to take his criticisms of the film seriously because, having seen the movie, I can say that the film simply does not imply many of the things that Robert Scott Crane claims that it does. He seems to think that Autofocus paints an overwhelmingly negative picture of his father without showing the positve aspects of Bob Crane's life and character. I disagree. Autofocus is not unsympathetic to Bob Crane. He is portrayed as a likable and extremely gregarious man who cared for his family and was a talented comic actor...but who had an addiction that destroyed at least one of his marriages and his career and may have caused his premature death. He would never admit that he had problem and so never tried to change his behavior. I don't think that that characterization of Bob Crane is in dispute. But the issue of accuracy which Robert Scott Crane raises is a legitimate one. Unless the subject of a biographical film cooperates in writing the film, the screenwriters and scriptwriters cannot possible know the details of what went on behind closed doors or what was said in private conversations. So they make it up. They write scenes and put words in the characters' mouths that move the story along and support (hopefully) accurate character development. So viewers have to take the details with a grain of salt, not literally.

I recommend Autofocus for Greg Kinnear's great performance, and for its excellent portrait of someone who has crossed the line between self-indulgence and self-destruction and never really figures that out.

Schmile!
That's the cornball line Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear) runs on every woman he photographs, whether in the beginning of his career for autograph hounds, or later as a sick pornographer in this excellent though dispiriting movie.

First off, let me say that I have never seen an episode of "Hogan's Heroes"; my father, a WW2 vet from the European theatre, refused to have it on in our house. Thus, I have no clear image of the real Bob Crane, meaning that I can't really tell whether Kinnear's portrayal is cariacature, dead-on, or way off.

But that didn't bother me none. He actually reminded me of a somewhat unsavory man I know in real life, so I had no trouble making the leap that this seeming family man was actually a Real Creep in sheep's clothing. Kinnear does a great job as we see him disintegrate from a respectable vaguely naive man into a joyful then joyless sexaholic. It's a shame, really, that neither he nor his talented co-star Willem Dafoe got Oscar nominations for their work in this film. Dafoe brings to mind every lounge lizard you've ever seen as the Mephistopheles character to Bob Crane/Faust. It's Carpenter (Dafoe) who, as a pioneer in video tech doing some work for "Hogan" co-star Richard Dawson, introduces Crane to swinging and videotaping their joint sexual escapades. The two feed off each other for well over a decade until a final ugly altercation. Shortly after, Crane is found murdered in a motel room; the filmmakers imply that the guilty party is Carpenter.

While I may not be conversant with Bob Crane's visage, like anyone else from the 1970s I do know "Family Feud" host Richard Dawson, and I have to say that this guy was terrible casting in that role. I don't know how long it took even for me to realize who this actor was supposed to be playing--nothing like him at all! More like Tommy Tune than the short somewhat stocky real
Dawson.

But that's about the only complaint I have about "Auto Focus", with the possible exception of the unhelpful title. When I went to the theatre, I couldn't for the life of me remember what this movie was supposed to be about, even though I knew I'd seen the trailer before. It just doesn't communicate anything to its potential audience, which may explain that a lot of people didn't find out about this movie, good though it is.

"Auto Focus" does a creditable job of capturing the emptiness of Crane and Carpenter's sex addiction; one telling moment is when the two men are comparing notes on which cities have the best in certain sexual specialties, the way some others might talk about bus service. Another time, the two men are watching footage of themselves and begin to masturbate, each alone in his addiction despite the other's presence. Interesting too that Crane is up for any kind of action except homosexual; he goes ballistic when he sees Carpenter's hand on his own naked posterior during an orgy.

In the end, the main moral of "Auto Focus" is that loss of control in one area eventually spells disaster in every facet of Crane's life, whether professional or personal. Like a modern update of a morality play, we are all well warned to stay on the straight and narrow to avoid such a downfall as Bob Crane's.

One of the most famous sitcom stars on your tv
Done in the vein of those cable behind the scenes documentaries, the story that unfolds is not that unique or even surprising. We sort of know what is going to happen to Bob...the fame, the obsession ( sex ) so complete that to him it seems normal, the concurrent decline in career, all hell breaking loose...

WHat makes the movie "fun" is that the performance of Kinnear and Dafoe remind us of the capacity for self destruction, even when the cards dealt seem a winning hand.

IT is almost comedic, in a sad way, the precision with which the boys go about their after hours entertainment, with humorous looks at the new stuff in home video, introduced to Crane by his buddy John ( the Sony Betamax). There is a lack of tension in a story that really is not a story...the predictability made acceptable by the chance to look at the crash. The movie almost seems to be entirely about Bob's sexual versus job performances, and At least you can say that it has a sort of guided percision in that sense...the movie IS in focus.

Dafoe in particular is excellent, and Kinnear portrays convincingly how obsession of any kind can lead to ruin.

"Bob, I said I'm sorry. It's a group grope!"
The title "Auto Focus" relates to "self-involved", not the operation of camera lenses (which were not around in Bob's day.) The movie covers the period of 1965-1978 in the life of actor Bob Crane.

"But why Bob Crane"? you might ask. Good question. Bob Crane is best-known as "Colonel Hogan" in the hit TV sit-com "Hogan's Heroes" which aired for 6 years. Previous to that, Bob did mostly radio work, and some minor acting. After "Hogan's Heroes" was abruptly cancelled, he had a hard time getting much meaningful work, mostly because of his reputation for having an addiction to sex and pornography, which is the main thrust of the movie.

While at first blush this may not seem to be much of a story, it is strangely compelling. It was directed by Paul Shrader, who wrote Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, so he is no lightweight when it comes to dark subjects. However, the movie is pretty quite bright and cheery for the first third or so. Then by design, as we see more and more of Bob Crane's degrading life and lifestyle, the colors get darker and drabber, different film-stock is used for a grungier feel, the camera becomes hand-held rather than having smooth pans, etc.

Bob met up with a man named John Carpenter, who was sort of a video enthusiast/merchandiser, when video was just getting going. There is a fair amount of retro-video technology shown in the movie - big bulky cameras (VTR's - video tape recorders)- which produce reel-to-reel tape, then big bulky cassettes, etc. In fact, like modern men, these two characters sometimes would be more interested in the working of the technology than the ladies they have brought home.

These two men struck it off and became good friends. With his TV show on the air, Bob had no problem getting women, and John reaped some benefits as well. Although rather conservative, and a Catholic, Bob divorced his first wife and married an actress from "Hogan's Heroes". He continued his decline with videotaping and cataloging his sex adventures up until the end.

Bob's murder is still unsolved, mostly due to the fact that the majority of evidence is circumstantial, and the DNA testing abilities back then (1978) were somewhat rudimentary. Therefore, although there was a trial, the accused was acquitted.

Greg Kinnear plays Crane, and Willem Dafoe is John Carpenter. In many respect Kinnear's career is similar to Crane's - radio background, not very large acting roles, etc. Both actors do a fine job. Some notables also show up in the supporting roles, including one of Bob's sons as an interviewer.

Director Paul Shrader says he was not a fan of "Hogan's Heroes" and the movie was not an attempt to revive any warm-fuzzies of that show. He simply saw an intriguing story. In one scene, in order to avoid an NC-17 rating, the central portion of the scene of oral sex was pixellated. At first, you think "that's odd", but Shrader explains that he wanted to show the actual hardcore videotaping that Crane was doing so we would know this wasn't just a little cheesecake stuff he was doing on occasion. Had the scene just been cut, then we would not really know how deep Bob was sinking. There are other scenes of sex, but most is on the old video tape played on a TV with low resolution and image quality.

Director Paul Shrader's commentary is very good and interesting, mostly about technical aspects of the film and story. The second commentary by the writer and two producers is only for the first hour due to space, and is mostly about the script development, though it too was interesting.

There is an excellent documentary about the investigation into Bob's death including graphic photos of the bloody body. The police, prosecutor, defense attorneys and family members all contribute. There is footage for the trial, which as I mentioned, resulted in acquittal. If the available evidence had been analyzed with modern technology, I'm quite sure the accused would have been convicted of manslaughter at least.

Very well-made movie of an off-beat subject. There are some comical aspects to offset the darkness. The short and shallow behind-the-scenes was the only disappointment. Recommended - but not as a first date movie.

Ho-Hum
It is kind of a drag to watch your favorite TV sitcom stars dragged through the mud in various Hollywood biopics. Turns out, shockingly, that the stars of the sixties weren't as wholesome as we all suspected they were. Case in point, Bob Crane, aka Colonel Hogan, the loveable foil to the brain dead Colonel Klink(...). Crane, a family man and a struggling actor, got his big break when he was cast as the star of the wildly successful show. All seemed to be moving along well until Crane met a man named John Carpenter, a shady fellow who made a business of hanging around movie sets and installing custom electronic devices for various Hollywood stars. Carpenter, an early video genius, had a much darker side, filming all kinds of X rated material. (...)

What follows is the customary Hollywood treatment of a man on the fall. Be it drugs, drink, or in this case, sex, they are all pretty much the same. Crane is obviously naturally attractive to the horde of Hollywood starlets, which enables his friend Carpenter to further indulge in his strange sexual obsession. The addiction quickly takes over Crane's life, and he loses his wife and family. At the same time, his career disintegrates as Hogan's Heroes ends, and it becomes known that Crane is definitely not a morally upstanding member of society. He remarries, goes on the road with a low rent theater troupe, but these alterations just play further into the growing reliance on frequent sex and the filming of it. Carpenter also begins to get unhinged, as he feels that Crane, who he is strangely attracted to, is slowly slipping away. The movie hints at an explanation for Crane's mysterious ending, but doesn't lay total blame.

This movie did not work for me. The performances were satisfactory, Kinnear as Crane has a certain charm and sneering perverseness that was interesting to watch. Dafoe, an expert at playing creepy characters, does the same right here, delivering a skin crawling type role as voyeur Carpenter. The story though struck me as just a tired retread of Hollywood fall from grace pictures. I did not really care about the characters, and their faults did little to grab my attention. All in all, it's just a new interpretation of a movie we have all seen before. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Baywatch:White Thunder at Glacier Bay
I love the video and thought it was great that the show went on location in Alaska. I have the unrated version of the video. But I hope someday to get the rated version of the video. I think that David Hasselhoff and Gena Lee Nolin did a terrfic job on the video when their characters "Mitch and Neely Buchannon" got married on the Dawn Princess cruise and the honeymoon scene was so beautiful.

Brilliant Drivel
If you are expecting anything of substance here, you will be disappointed. But I give this film five stars for audacity and total disregard for reality. After seeing this one will agree that Alaska is a magical place where black bears turn into grizzly bears; where one can travel thousands of miles in just a cutaway shot; where people just sit around with paragliding equipment in their trucks ready to hand out to to anyone with no instruction. The hodge-podge of footage and the slap-dash writing is richly complemented by the innane acting. Carmen Electra's "Fire and Ice Dance" performed in front of a glacier face had me hoping for a catastrophic calving. Makes me grateful that I don't have television service.

A sure contender for the Academy Awards
There came a time in my life, not too long ago, when I realized I had zero acting talent and sucking in my gut every time I was topless just wasn't cutting it anymore. Now if only David Hasselhoff had done the same...

Men say Melting Ice
If you are like me and have been drowling over Jeremy Jackson for the past 8 years, you will be thrilled to know that Hobie is in this movie! For the guys, the "Baywatch Babes" are in this film along with David Hasselhoff. Okay, so being in a bathing suit isn't the most known factor for this film, but there is a girl that Hobie is drowling all over (not knowing that she is BIG trouble), Mitch Buchannon saves the day, and a wedding-themed ending. Could it get much better? Well, Carmen Electra has a little dance at the end which I am sure all the men fans will love. Escaping the Baywatch setting, this movie shows what the lifeguard crew can do in cold weather.

Mitch and Neely's Wedding on The Dawn Princess Crusie Ship
I just recently ordered the rated version of the video. I love Mitch and Neely's wedding scene on the Dawn Princess cruise ship. I think that it was so beautiful with the flowers around the Grand Plaza of the Dawn Princess cruise ship. I think Gena Lee Nolin and David Hasselhoff did a terrfic job when their characters "Neely Capshaw and Mitch Buchannon" got married on the cruise ship. I love the video and would recommend to anyone I know even my friends and family. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Baywatch:White Thunder at Glacier Bay
I love the video and thought it was great that the show went on location in Alaska. I have the unrated version of the video. But I hope someday to get the rated version of the video. I think that David Hasselhoff and Gena Lee Nolin did a terrfic job on the video when their characters "Mitch and Neely Buchannon" got married on the Dawn Princess cruise and the honeymoon scene was so beautiful.

Brilliant Drivel
If you are expecting anything of substance here, you will be disappointed. But I give this film five stars for audacity and total disregard for reality. After seeing this one will agree that Alaska is a magical place where black bears turn into grizzly bears; where one can travel thousands of miles in just a cutaway shot; where people just sit around with paragliding equipment in their trucks ready to hand out to to anyone with no instruction. The hodge-podge of footage and the slap-dash writing is richly complemented by the innane acting. Carmen Electra's "Fire and Ice Dance" performed in front of a glacier face had me hoping for a catastrophic calving. Makes me grateful that I don't have television service.

A sure contender for the Academy Awards
There came a time in my life, not too long ago, when I realized I had zero acting talent and sucking in my gut every time I was topless just wasn't cutting it anymore. Now if only David Hasselhoff had done the same...

Men say Melting Ice
If you are like me and have been drowling over Jeremy Jackson for the past 8 years, you will be thrilled to know that Hobie is in this movie! For the guys, the "Baywatch Babes" are in this film along with David Hasselhoff. Okay, so being in a bathing suit isn't the most known factor for this film, but there is a girl that Hobie is drowling all over (not knowing that she is BIG trouble), Mitch Buchannon saves the day, and a wedding-themed ending. Could it get much better? Well, Carmen Electra has a little dance at the end which I am sure all the men fans will love. Escaping the Baywatch setting, this movie shows what the lifeguard crew can do in cold weather.

Mitch and Neely's Wedding on The Dawn Princess Crusie Ship
I just recently ordered the rated version of the video. I love Mitch and Neely's wedding scene on the Dawn Princess cruise ship. I think that it was so beautiful with the flowers around the Grand Plaza of the Dawn Princess cruise ship. I think Gena Lee Nolin and David Hasselhoff did a terrfic job when their characters "Neely Capshaw and Mitch Buchannon" got married on the cruise ship. I love the video and would recommend to anyone I know even my friends and family. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

What?
The previous reviewer is clearly insane.

Good Family Movie
Pretty Interesting Story I recommend this to any family. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

The Cleavers meet Ru Paul
This is a good film that tells the story of a young couple that want to be foster parents. The kids they get are challenging to say the least and it has an impact on the relationship of the couple. The nice twist is that the couple is gay and living an excellant life. No clubs, Bars, Drugs or most of the normal Hollywood trappings of gay men ( note: Both men are in great shape and do work out at the gym in the story, so one stereotype is kept.). The fact that the men are gay is not the big issue in the film, it's the way the kids address the new foster parents and the massive issues that come up with the children and the Mother of the children who arrives without calling first. The story is good, the film quality is good and it's a very clean overall movie, except the profane words the little darlings arrive with. It's worth seeing and even worth buying. It's a nice movie to show in mixed company.

Truly A Wonderful Gay Movie that stands out
Get Your Stuff is truly a great movie that stands out when comapred to so many of the gay movies out today. A movie about Family instead of just Sex makes this a film worth watching.

A new perspective on modern family values.
Phil and Eric are a Beverly Hills gay couple who have it all - looks, money, friends, professional success, and a solid relationship. The next step appears to be bringing children into their family, so the couple begins the process of adopting a baby. This process is often a long, drawn out one for prospective parents, which can lead to frustration. When a child caseworker friend suggests that the men take in a couple of young brothers while waiting for the baby they want, Phil and Eric agree to foster the boys "just for one night." As the promised one-night-stay stretches into two nights, then three, then on and on, the two boys reveal themselves to be streetwise, somewhat homophobic, and more than a little interested in the contents of the liquor cabinet. Further complicating matters, the boys are tracked down by their mother, an alcoholic prostitute who lost custody of them. She initially wants to take the boys away from this "unwholesome" setting, but after witnessing their current living situation firsthand, changes her mind and seeks a permanent place in the arrangement. The resulting stress threatens to tear the couple apart, as one partner develops a soft spot for the boys and their mother, while the other just wants them gone.

The film is a solid first effort by writer/director Max Mitchell. He deftly touches upon issues including the importance of compromise and communication in a relationship, how to get through difficult stretches without self-destructing, and what it takes to make a family. As a school psychologist, I have worked with children in the foster system, as well as others in broken and highly dysfunctional homes, and the portrayals of the two boys in this film are spot-on. Their behaviors may seem outrageous and unbelievable, but when you look at the abuse and neglect these children go through all their lives, it's easy to understand that their acting out is their attempt to reject adults before they can be rejected themselves. Why would they want to start caring for and counting on another adult when that adult is just going to walk away and leave them behind soon, the way all the others have? I find Get Your Stuff to be an involving, funny, moving study of those who have a lot but are still missing something, and those who have little and just want a chance in life. If you're interested in a gay film that focuses on exploring family values from a new perspective, this is the film for you.

Not worth it
Okay, I'm a social worker, so I kinda judged this movie by this. The guys are really good eye candy and great bods. But, the situation is so cliched and boring that I keep wondering when they were going to come to their senses. The guy who plays the therapist is VERY cliched and doesn't have his own life grounded in any reality. It doesn't break any new (...) ground..it just rehashes the old, with kids thrown in. Don't get me started on the kids...Even the kids I supervised never behaved like that.

Refreshing gay film about 2 gay guys raising a family.
After reading some of the bad reviews about this movie I was afraid to see this, but I took a gamble and rented it anyway out of curiousity and the 2 hot guys on the cover lol and I have to admit Get Your Stuff is a good movie. Such a refreshing film about gay guys and family. Man are those 2 foster kids a hand full. ... Read more

Reviews (50)

Great Performances. Incisive Portrait of Compulsion.
Autofocus is the story of actor Bob Crane's rise to popularity as Colonel Hogan on Hogan's Heroes through his fall from grace in Hollywood and eventual murder, based on the Book 'The Murder of Bob Crane' by Robert Graysmith. Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear) is a supremely likable guy with a family and a popular prime time sitcom, but also with a penchant for pornography and casual sex when he meets a man named John Carpenter (Willem Dafoe) on the set of Hogan's Heroes. Carpenter was a sales representative for Sony's cutting edge technologies when they were developing VTR technology, a precursor to videotape. Crane, a lifelong photography enthusiast, was quite taken with this new technology. Also being a huge fan of pornography, he took the opportunity that VTR provided to make an astounding number of pornographic 'home movies' of anyone who would let him. Bob Crane's philandering and sexual obsession, often encouraged and facilitated by John Carpenter, became pathological and seemingly out of his own control, eventually costing him his first marriage and damaged his ability to get roles in Hollywood. Bob Crane was murdered in 1978 . The movie asserts the most popular hypothesis as to who committed the crime. But the circumstances surrounding his murder actually remain unclear.

Greg Kinnear gives the performance of his life as the affable, compulsive Bob Crane. I only know Bob Crane from television, but, based on what I've seen, Kinnear nailed Crane's mannerisms perfectly. Willem Dafoe is superb as bright, needy, and sleazy John Carpenter. Rita Wilson is admirable in her supporting role as Bob Crane's first wife Anne. Maria Bello plays his second wife, actress Patricia Olson. I don't like director Paul Schrader's decision to overdub a narration that is supposed to be Bob Crane speaking (even speaking from the grave at one point!). It is unnecessary, corny, and takes Bob Crane's words too far out of their context, I think. That is a minor point, since the overdubbing is only occasional.

Bob Crane's elder son by his first marriage, Robert David Crane, cooperated with the making of this film. His younger son by his second marriage, Robert Scott Crane -young "Scotty" in the movie- did not and has voiced strong objections to how his father is portrayed in the film. He cites a long list of what he claims are the film's inaccuracies. (You can read his objections if you search for Autofocus on the Internet Movie Database.) I am not inclined to take his criticisms of the film seriously because, having seen the movie, I can say that the film simply does not imply many of the things that Robert Scott Crane claims that it does. He seems to think that Autofocus paints an overwhelmingly negative picture of his father without showing the positve aspects of Bob Crane's life and character. I disagree. Autofocus is not unsympathetic to Bob Crane. He is portrayed as a likable and extremely gregarious man who cared for his family and was a talented comic actor...but who had an addiction that destroyed at least one of his marriages and his career and may have caused his premature death. He would never admit that he had problem and so never tried to change his behavior. I don't think that that characterization of Bob Crane is in dispute. But the issue of accuracy which Robert Scott Crane raises is a legitimate one. Unless the subject of a biographical film cooperates in writing the film, the screenwriters and scriptwriters cannot possible know the details of what went on behind closed doors or what was said in private conversations. So they make it up. They write scenes and put words in the characters' mouths that move the story along and support (hopefully) accurate character development. So viewers have to take the details with a grain of salt, not literally.

I recommend Autofocus for Greg Kinnear's great performance, and for its excellent portrait of someone who has crossed the line between self-indulgence and self-destruction and never really figures that out.

Schmile!
That's the cornball line Bob Crane (Greg Kinnear) runs on every woman he photographs, whether in the beginning of his career for autograph hounds, or later as a sick pornographer in this excellent though dispiriting movie.

First off, let me say that I have never seen an episode of "Hogan's Heroes"; my father, a WW2 vet from the European theatre, refused to have it on in our house. Thus, I have no clear image of the real Bob Crane, meaning that I can't really tell whether Kinnear's portrayal is cariacature, dead-on, or way off.

But that didn't bother me none. He actually reminded me of a somewhat unsavory man I know in real life, so I had no trouble making the leap that this seeming family man was actually a Real Creep in sheep's clothing. Kinnear does a great job as we see him disintegrate from a respectable vaguely naive man into a joyful then joyless sexaholic. It's a shame, really, that neither he nor his talented co-star Willem Dafoe got Oscar nominations for their work in this film. Dafoe brings to mind every lounge lizard you've ever seen as the Mephistopheles character to Bob Crane/Faust. It's Carpenter (Dafoe) who, as a pioneer in video tech doing some work for "Hogan" co-star Richard Dawson, introduces Crane to swinging and videotaping their joint sexual escapades. The two feed off each other for well over a decade until a final ugly altercation. Shortly after, Crane is found murdered in a motel room; the filmmakers imply that the guilty party is Carpenter.

While I may not be conversant with Bob Crane's visage, like anyone else from the 1970s I do know "Family Feud" host Richard Dawson, and I have to say that this guy was terrible casting in that role. I don't know how long it took even for me to realize who this actor was supposed to be playing--nothing like him at all! More like Tommy Tune than the short somewhat stocky real
Dawson.

But that's about the only complaint I have about "Auto Focus", with the possible exception of the unhelpful title. When I went to the theatre, I couldn't for the life of me remember what this movie was supposed to be about, even though I knew I'd seen the trailer before. It just doesn't communicate anything to its potential audience, which may explain that a lot of people didn't find out about this movie, good though it is.

"Auto Focus" does a creditable job of capturing the emptiness of Crane and Carpenter's sex addiction; one telling moment is when the two men are comparing notes on which cities have the best in certain sexual specialties, the way some others might talk about bus service. Another time, the two men are watching footage of themselves and begin to masturbate, each alone in his addiction despite the other's presence. Interesting too that Crane is up for any kind of action except homosexual; he goes ballistic when he sees Carpenter's hand on his own naked posterior during an orgy.

In the end, the main moral of "Auto Focus" is that loss of control in one area eventually spells disaster in every facet of Crane's life, whether professional or personal. Like a modern update of a morality play, we are all well warned to stay on the straight and narrow to avoid such a downfall as Bob Crane's.

One of the most famous sitcom stars on your tv
Done in the vein of those cable behind the scenes documentaries, the story that unfolds is not that unique or even surprising. We sort of know what is going to happen to Bob...the fame, the obsession ( sex ) so complete that to him it seems normal, the concurrent decline in career, all hell breaking loose...

WHat makes the movie "fun" is that the performance of Kinnear and Dafoe remind us of the capacity for self destruction, even when the cards dealt seem a winning hand.

IT is almost comedic, in a sad way, the precision with which the boys go about their after hours entertainment, with humorous looks at the new stuff in home video, introduced to Crane by his buddy John ( the Sony Betamax). There is a lack of tension in a story that really is not a story...the predictability made acceptable by the chance to look at the crash. The movie almost seems to be entirely about Bob's sexual versus job performances, and At least you can say that it has a sort of guided percision in that sense...the movie IS in focus.

Dafoe in particular is excellent, and Kinnear portrays convincingly how obsession of any kind can lead to ruin.

"Bob, I said I'm sorry. It's a group grope!"
The title "Auto Focus" relates to "self-involved", not the operation of camera lenses (which were not around in Bob's day.) The movie covers the period of 1965-1978 in the life of actor Bob Crane.

"But why Bob Crane"? you might ask. Good question. Bob Crane is best-known as "Colonel Hogan" in the hit TV sit-com "Hogan's Heroes" which aired for 6 years. Previous to that, Bob did mostly radio work, and some minor acting. After "Hogan's Heroes" was abruptly cancelled, he had a hard time getting much meaningful work, mostly because of his reputation for having an addiction to sex and pornography, which is the main thrust of the movie.

While at first blush this may not seem to be much of a story, it is strangely compelling. It was directed by Paul Shrader, who wrote Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, so he is no lightweight when it comes to dark subjects. However, the movie is pretty quite bright and cheery for the first third or so. Then by design, as we see more and more of Bob Crane's degrading life and lifestyle, the colors get darker and drabber, different film-stock is used for a grungier feel, the camera becomes hand-held rather than having smooth pans, etc.

Bob met up with a man named John Carpenter, who was sort of a video enthusiast/merchandiser, when video was just getting going. There is a fair amount of retro-video technology shown in the movie - big bulky cameras (VTR's - video tape recorders)- which produce reel-to-reel tape, then big bulky cassettes, etc. In fact, like modern men, these two characters sometimes would be more interested in the working of the technology than the ladies they have brought home.

These two men struck it off and became good friends. With his TV show on the air, Bob had no problem getting women, and John reaped some benefits as well. Although rather conservative, and a Catholic, Bob divorced his first wife and married an actress from "Hogan's Heroes". He continued his decline with videotaping and cataloging his sex adventures up until the end.

Bob's murder is still unsolved, mostly due to the fact that the majority of evidence is circumstantial, and the DNA testing abilities back then (1978) were somewhat rudimentary. Therefore, although there was a trial, the accused was acquitted.

Greg Kinnear plays Crane, and Willem Dafoe is John Carpenter. In many respect Kinnear's career is similar to Crane's - radio background, not very large acting roles, etc. Both actors do a fine job. Some notables also show up in the supporting roles, including one of Bob's sons as an interviewer.

Director Paul Shrader says he was not a fan of "Hogan's Heroes" and the movie was not an attempt to revive any warm-fuzzies of that show. He simply saw an intriguing story. In one scene, in order to avoid an NC-17 rating, the central portion of the scene of oral sex was pixellated. At first, you think "that's odd", but Shrader explains that he wanted to show the actual hardcore videotaping that Crane was doing so we would know this wasn't just a little cheesecake stuff he was doing on occasion. Had the scene just been cut, then we would not really know how deep Bob was sinking. There are other scenes of sex, but most is on the old video tape played on a TV with low resolution and image quality.

Director Paul Shrader's commentary is very good and interesting, mostly about technical aspects of the film and story. The second commentary by the writer and two producers is only for the first hour due to space, and is mostly about the script development, though it too was interesting.

There is an excellent documentary about the investigation into Bob's death including graphic photos of the bloody body. The police, prosecutor, defense attorneys and family members all contribute. There is footage for the trial, which as I mentioned, resulted in acquittal. If the available evidence had been analyzed with modern technology, I'm quite sure the accused would have been convicted of manslaughter at least.

Very well-made movie of an off-beat subject. There are some comical aspects to offset the darkness. The short and shallow behind-the-scenes was the only disappointment. Recommended - but not as a first date movie.

Ho-Hum
It is kind of a drag to watch your favorite TV sitcom stars dragged through the mud in various Hollywood biopics. Turns out, shockingly, that the stars of the sixties weren't as wholesome as we all suspected they were. Case in point, Bob Crane, aka Colonel Hogan, the loveable foil to the brain dead Colonel Klink(...). Crane, a family man and a struggling actor, got his big break when he was cast as the star of the wildly successful show. All seemed to be moving along well until Crane met a man named John Carpenter, a shady fellow who made a business of hanging around movie sets and installing custom electronic devices for various Hollywood stars. Carpenter, an early video genius, had a much darker side, filming all kinds of X rated material. (...)

What follows is the customary Hollywood treatment of a man on the fall. Be it drugs, drink, or in this case, sex, they are all pretty much the same. Crane is obviously naturally attractive to the horde of Hollywood starlets, which enables his friend Carpenter to further indulge in his strange sexual obsession. The addiction quickly takes over Crane's life, and he loses his wife and family. At the same time, his career disintegrates as Hogan's Heroes ends, and it becomes known that Crane is definitely not a morally upstanding member of society. He remarries, goes on the road with a low rent theater troupe, but these alterations just play further into the growing reliance on frequent sex and the filming of it. Carpenter also begins to get unhinged, as he feels that Crane, who he is strangely attracted to, is slowly slipping away. The movie hints at an explanation for Crane's mysterious ending, but doesn't lay total blame.

This movie did not work for me. The performances were satisfactory, Kinnear as Crane has a certain charm and sneering perverseness that was interesting to watch. Dafoe, an expert at playing creepy characters, does the same right here, delivering a skin crawling type role as voyeur Carpenter. The story though struck me as just a tired retread of Hollywood fall from grace pictures. I did not really care about the characters, and their faults did little to grab my attention. All in all, it's just a new interpretation of a movie we have all seen before. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

What?
The previous reviewer is clearly insane.

Good Family Movie
Pretty Interesting Story I recommend this to any family. ... Read more